Cease Fire
by Hango
Summary: Subsequent to a fierce, last battle in the sky, and an unsuitable landing, Toph is the one who has to group her friends. Yet foes are still skulking around... Hints of Kataang.
1. Chapter 1

**Rated T, you'll find out why**

**Don't own**

**Cease Fire**

Toph had always desired being independent: living without the assistance of others, despite her sightlessness. Alone, free of bothersome parents.

Now the earthbender has finally acquired what she wanted. And she didn't like it, not one bit.

The girl cried out, as she accidentally leant on her broken leg. The sound of breath leaving her lips was loud as a detonation in the midst of the silent world. She struggled to balance herself with a long metal stick, which she had found amid the ruins of the Fire Nation Qin.

After the airship crash landed, Toph has been knocked out for a while. She was incognizant of the time she had spent lying unconscious, but something told her it must've been at least hours.

"Sokka!" she yelled desperately again, being sure now, however, that her efforts were useless. "Suki! Where are you, stupid para_morons_?"

Toph has been calling their names for half an hour, after she had somewhat regained her sentience. She could've thought merely of two possible explanations, why they hadn't replied yet. The first one required them being blacked out as well.

The_ other_ option was something Toph refused to think about.

The girl felt completely worn out by all the walking and shouting, so she sat down onto a small rock. But even while she rested, she kept listening to the heart beating faintly a few hundred feet from her: the only sign of life in her surroundings.

The earthbender really hoped that the survivor remains a survivor for a few more minutes, if he or she could make it until now. Moreover, she hoped that she was catching the sound of Sokka's heart.

_Yeah, or Suki's…_, the blind girl thought quickly, unwilling to admit that if she had to choose which one of them she would save, she'd pick Sokka without a second thought.

And this mere thought made her feel guilty. Suki was also a friend, and a good person, not to mention the Kyoshi warrior had saved her life once! But Sokka… he felt more like one of Toph's family than her own parents!

Moreover… Toph knew Katara would never speak to her again, if she'd let anything happen to her brother. Well, actually that was only important if she and Zuko…

_Stop that! Why do you always have to think of the worst possibility? _the girl thought, and tried to resist bursting into tears. _Zuko and Katara are fine! And Sokka… he'd better be fine, otherwise I'll kill him!_

Thus Toph forced herself to stand up once again and continued walking towards her goal, as fast as her injured leg allowed her. It must have been Sokka… he might have gone to find help, but he had become tired, and stopped to rest. Yes, it was possible, but somehow she didn't find these thoughts reassuring at all.

Suddenly, the girl came to a halt, and the piece of metal has fallen out of her trembling hand. She collapsed on the rocky, dusty ground alongside with the tatters of her precious composure.

_Aang… it's Aang! _realized Toph, struggling back on her feet, and pushing her unhurt foot against the stony surface. The earthbender jerked forward, as if she was ice-skating on a frozen pond; with the difference she was using only one leg. And that she was not skating at all, of course.

Toph recognized the heartbeat of her friend. The pulsation of Aang's heart was unlike any other human being's: it was like the small organ was pumping air instead of heavy drops of blood all around the monk's circulation.

She nearly put her weight onto her broken leg several times. But still, she didn't slow down.

Toph needed a friend more than ever. A friend, who could see...

* * *

><p>Once again they kissed, only this time they were relieved, not bound by the burden of salvaging the whole world. There was no more responsibility. There was nothing — neither the <em>millions<em> of citizens crowding the metropolis below, nor their beloved friends inside the Jasmine Dragon —, but them.

Nothing, but… oddly, in the midst of all that affectionateness, Aang could no longer sense even Katara, not to mention the _rest _of existence. Only some imperishable tranquility, like an interminable ride in the saddle of Appa…

But then the safe haven around him began to shatter, and the calm ocean he was floating in started to evaporate tardily. The unwanted vagary started to get more and more rapid, and at the end the environment was morphing so sickeningly speedily as if he was thrown in the middle of a wild typhoon.

Aang opened his eyes, in order to make the colorful whirlpool go away, and stare into the stunning orbs of Katara instead. He was most surprised that he could see nothing, only darkness. He had to blink a few times, to make sure his eyes were really open.

They were. But it was not a pleasant realization, after all: he was forced to look at disgusting, dark grey skies, littered with a thick mush of clouds. And just then, the unfriendly background became partly concealed by the face of a girl.

"Katara!" said Aang, recognizing the girl.

The Avatar noticed strange alteration in Katara's usual appearance. He couldn't tell it precisely, given the semidarkness around (he didn't even see the beautiful color of Katara's eyes, the first thing he had faced after waking up from his hundred-year slumber inside the iceberg), but her expression seemed to be shocked and terrified… And her skin looked way too _fair_ to be Katara's, even with the layer of dirt on her face…

"Aang! Please, try to pull yourself together, and come with me!"

Aang frowned, hearing Katara's voice, which was nothing like what he had remembered, nevertheless he sat up. It appeared to him that among the two of them it was maybe Katara, who needed to pull herself together, but instead of wording this thought of his, he took a curious look around.

The young airbender could make out silhouettes of big pieces of stone nearby, but he couldn't really see anything else thanks to the dim light.

_Boulders… would be great toys for Toph…_

Like a strike of powerful lightning (he knew the force of lightning all too well), the realization hit him. Aang stared at the blind girl in front of him, who he mistook for Katara until now.

"Toph… Where did Ozai go, Toph?" the Avatar asked his friend, clutching at her collarbone, and he felt horror taking control of his mind.

"I'm afraid you… couldn't stop him. I'm so sorry, Aang!"

The arm of the bald monk fell, due to a sudden rush of weakness. He only realized now why there were so many stones around: he was practically buried under them, until Toph set him free. And that protective shell of earth might have been the only reason why he was still breathing.

All the distant memories… his victory over the Fire Lord… Zuko becoming Ozai's successor… Being together with Katara… all these have been a mere trick of his mind struggling for survival!

"So… It's all over. What we've been fighting for… everything is lost!" said the Avatar tonelessly.

"No, Aang, don't you dare fall apart! We don't have time for whining!" Now it was Toph who grabbed at Aang's shoulder, and she shook him violently, while fixing her blind gaze on his face. "You have to help me find Sokka… and Suki!"

* * *

><p>It took them an hour to locate him. Sokka was trapped inside one of the destroyed Qin airships, in the midst of steel, which explained why Toph was incapable of finding him. The youth from the Water Tribe was stuck amid two weighty plates of metal.<p>

As the Avatar drew nearer, his first reaction was shock. He recoiled in horror, and had to take a few deep breaths and rest his hands on the knees, to avoid throwing up.

What was even worse than nausea was the awareness that this ugly place would be the last thing his companion would see.

At second glance, Aang thought it didn't really matter now, since Sokka had most certainly closed his eyes for good already.

It would've been miracle if Sokka was still alive, given the horrible wound on his side, an injury not even Katara could cure. The razor sharp metal literally drilled a hole between his ribs, similar to those which one makes in bread with a finger; the only difference was all the blood soaking through the boy's normally blue tunic, and the unbearable pain he presumably had had to suffer.

"Sokka!" shouted Toph, and seated herself beside the boy, carefully extending her wounded leg. "He's alive, Aang! He's alive…"

Aang knew Toph meant to add "for now", and he couldn't blame her for changing her mind. He never thought that one day he'll envy Toph for her blindness, but now he did. He was sure the scene before him will haunt his dreams for some time…

Said young girl put her palm on Sokka's face gently. It was fascinating to see the blind girl running her fingers through Sokka's features. She was probably trying to imagine what his face was like. Aang smiled lightly at that, despite the situation, thinking how unlikely is for Toph to show actual tenderness.

Finally, the Avatar could take it no more, and decided to look around in this part of the airship, instead of staring directly at Sokka and the terror stricken girl clinging to him.

Aang was able to find Sokka's bag at the very moment when the boy let out a painful groan. Aang opened the bag, and picked Sokka's waterskin. He thought the boy might want a sip of water.

But as his eyes fell on Sokka, Aang's dropped his hand, nearly releasing the skin, and he lowered his head. Seeing Sokka's distorted features and deathly pale face, Aang thought he might not need to drink anymore.

"Toph…" said Sokka in a barely audible voice, but even this reduced talking died out with horrible guttural noise foreshadowing the approaching end. His words, however, were more or less recognizable: "Vic…try?"

"Yes!" said Toph in an unsteady tone, while stroking the tormented boy's forehead with her rough palm. "We won, Sokka!"

The inside of the ruined airship was poorly lit, so Aang couldn't tell it for sure, but it was like Sokka's face became a bit calmer, and a shadow of a smile might have appeared on his lips.

"Toph…" Sokka took a deep breath which sounded like he inhaled for the last time. "Kat…ra…"

With this unfinished sentence, Sokka's normally talkative tongue became powerless, and his train of thought has broken into two forever. His head lolled to the side, creating a faint, clunking noise as it impacted his metal prison, showing its profile to the girl who was unable to see his relaxed features.

"Sokka…? Sokka!"

Putting a trembling hand on the boy's chest, in search for the weak but steady beating which had been there before, Toph let out the most fearful scream of helplessness Aang had ever heard.

* * *

><p><strong><em>I took the liberty to name the Fire Nation airships after War Minister Qin, like Zeppelin airships were named after Ferdinand von Zeppelin.<em>**

**So, this is half of the story... Second half will be up next week, I guess. **

**Yeah, I know that there are probably a thousand alternative ending stories, but seriously, how about this?  
><strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Rated T because of violence (not in part two actually, but still)  
><strong>

**Don't own**

* * *

><p>The Avatar pulled his light robes together. It was really cold and unnaturally dark for the summer.<p>

If Aang didn't perceive the destruction caused by Fire Lord Ozai's air fleet with his own eyes, he sure enough wouldn't believe it. Standing on the top of one of the countless huge stone columns to be found in the area, he could have seen a large amount of land — if it wasn't for the opaque clouds of fume emerging from the debris of the forest, which had been reduced to ashes by the hands of human beings.

The Avatar felt something weird, something he hardly ever had experienced within himself. He felt hatred. Though he was not sure, towards whom he felt it.

All this evil… no, it wasn't evil: it was senseless, useless... an act of complete, utter lunacy!

_And I let it happen… It's all my fault! _the airbender thought. _And to top it all, I survived the deathly duel with Ozai. If I had at least died…"_

Aang had never understood Zuko's obsession with his honor, but now he did. It was as unworthy of an Avatar failing to fulfill the purpose of his existence as of a Crown Prince being banished from his nation.

Zuko… and Katara! Where could they be? Were they alright? According to Toph, the two benders flew to the Fire Nation Capital on the back of Appa, to face Zuko's wicked sister.

Aang and Toph didn't know, whether they succeeded or not. Aang could only hope his two friends hadn't screwed their job up as he did…

And Sokka and Suki… well, they could find only the former, but it hadn't caused them much joy. Suki's location, however, remained still unknown.

The Avatar took a glance at the direction of the small lake — all its water evaporated, thanks to the heat produced by the imperial firebenders —, at the shore of which they buried Sokka, and he felt heartbroken.

_My friends… The only people left, who I can trust… And I don't even know if they're alive, captured, what torture and hell they had to live through… I must know! I have to find them!_ the young airbender thought, and grabbed the small, white, bison-shaped whistle hanging from his neck. _No guarantee that you'll hear this, buddy… but I still have to at least try!_

Aang gathered all his airbending might, and delivered a powerful blow into the whistle. It went according to plan (the whistle made zero sound, at least not audible to a human), but in the middle of exhaling, the stone unexpectedly started to quake beneath his feet. He lost balance, fell onto his knees, and nearly tumbled off the basalt column.

The Avatar tried to stand up, when the second tremor arrived. He fell onto his butt, and let out an annoyed hiss. Clinging tightly to the stone, he looked down at the edge of the column's top carefully. He had to rub his eyes, because what he saw was nearly as unbelievable as the devastation of the Earth Kingdom around him.

It was Toph, standing beside the rock column, and slamming her fist into the rock face again and again, making the stone tremble violently. Aang sighed deeply, and he jumped off the column without awe. Summoning some air currents under his limbs, he managed to slow down his falling, and finally, he landed elegantly on his feet.

"What on… er… earth are you doing, Toph?" asked the bald kid with a puzzled expression.

"Oh, you're here" Toph pointed out the obvious, and she finished punching the stone at the same time. "I couldn't hear your ridiculous little feet touching the ground, twinkletoes! So… did you figure out where we are?"

"Uhm… well, not exactly."

"Then what were you doing up there, Aang? Enjoying the view?" asked Toph coarsely, and her face hardened.

"Well, that was exactly the problem" answered Aang in a manner similar to Toph's, but he lowered his head immediately. Who was he, after all, to get upset if someone was unfriendly to him? Toph had all the right to hate him at the moment. "I couldn't see anything, thanks to all the smoke. I'm sorry…"

"So what took you so long, then? You wanted to wait until the smoke clears? Wake up Aang! We have an air fleet to catch!"

This took Aang by surprise. He had a completely different idea: gather his friends, and run, run to the edge of the world if necessary. The Avatar couldn't think of a burial of another friend… And facing the almighty Fire Lord again: that was madness!

"Uhm… let me get this straight: you want to follow Ozai's forces?"

"Of course! What was your plan? Wait and see if he'd come back?" yelled an enraged Toph.

"I…" said Aang, and with thinking of a reason why not to accept Toph's suggestion, he came to the conclusion that he was afraid. He was terrified of the possibility of another failure, worried of the life of his friends. And he couldn't deny it: he, himself, was afraid of dying too. He didn't want to get struck by lightning again. He had already been stricken two times: that was already far from being healthy, and not to mention it was a hundred times more painful than tattooing, which had also been quite unpleasant. "And how do you want to follow them? We don't have Appa with us…"

"Right… So what? We have to follow their trail, Aang! We have to stop them!" Toph declared vehemently. "Or if not to stop them, then… to make them pay! They destroyed everything… they destroyed Sokka, Aang! Maybe they had hurt others important to you… don't you despise them for that?"

"You… you don't know, what you're saying!" told Aang, and he turned around, and walked off towards the seashore nearby.

"Aang! Stop right there!" said Toph, when she realized that Aang is moving away from her.

"No" replied Aang between clenched teeth. But he was angrier at himself rather than Toph.

"Where do you think you're going, you airheaded fool? Wait for me!" shouted the blind earthbender in an irritated tone "Seriously, you can't face the whole Fire Army alone! Plus, you can't leave me here all by myself…"

The Avatar realized only now that Toph was unaware which direction he started to head towards. And he also thought that the girl was right. It would've been ruthless to leave her here without a word. But it would've been crazy to say anything about his plan — finding some sort of vessel at the shore, and cross the sea between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation with it, in order to find his friends.

The airbender couldn't reveal this to Toph. She'd be mad. So he carried on walking, without a single clue what to do with the earthbender, and without taking a single glance at the girl, limping through the rocky surface, leaning at the metal staff at every step of her left foot.

"What is wrong with you? You really are acting like a spoiled, ill-natured… Aang, come back here, and let me insult you, or I swear I'm going to hurt you, you… Momo?"

Aang knew that Toph wasn't saying that he was Momo. She was merely referring to the signature twittering of a winged lemur which was currently audible.

"Momo!" exclaimed both of them at once, and Aang turned his eyes to the direction from which he expected his pet. _Momo! How could I forget that you are missing too?_

He was there indeed: gliding a few feet above their heads, twitting madly, with his enormous green eyes seeking shelter. He was acting exactly as if he was chased by something.

And as it turned out, he was: suddenly a javelin emerged from somewhere between two large boulders, aiming at Momo, and missing him by mere inches.

* * *

><p>Every single time he had entered into battle, Aang recalled the first thing Gyatso taught him about bending: the greatest achievement of an archer is hitting the clout; of an airbender is missing it. This was something Aang had never neglected, and always kept in mind when applying any other bending art.<p>

Now, actually, there was yet another explanation why his old mentor's saying came to his mind: the scene of the short lance flying past Momo, and vanishing somewhere among the stones.

"Man, unaccompanied, six feet tall, he has boots on, and I think body armor too" told Toph, reminding Aang, that the young girl had also had her education.

"Fire Nation" mumbled Aang firmly. And while he was not inquiring but stating, Toph nevertheless responded:

"I guess so. Hopefully he has some… supplies to share!"

"Don't rejoice too soon" said Aang sharply. "He's hunting for Momo, which means he must be low on food."

"Dammit! This is so not my day…" Toph frowned, stomping on the ground, making it shake a bit.

The man came into view. Short lad, wearing the red armor of the imperial firebenders, but not wearing a helmet. His eyes were searching the skies impatiently, that was the reason why he spotted Aang and Toph only when Aang shouted at him:

"You! Firebender! Stop!"

The man looked at him with a surprised expression: he was most certainly not expecting children here, in the middle of nowhere. Then his face fell, and Aang saw the realization in his dark brown eyes.

He knew that he was facing the Avatar.

And then he took a move, which was unexpected from a member of such a disciplined army as the one of the Fire Nation's (though it was a quite reasonable move): the firebender started running.

Aang froze for a second. He expected raging flames and loud battle cries. He wanted to question the soldier badly — basically if there were more surviving firebenders around, and about what this region was at the first place —, but he couldn't figure what to do. He couldn't just attack a fleeing enemy…

Suddenly, a small piece of rock emerged in the way of the running firebender, and he tripped over it and fell. Though he knew how to break his fall, he couldn't get up in his armor as fast as he wanted to.

"Thank me later" said Toph, and with a slight move of her hand, the stony surface opened, and slammed onto the ankles of the firebender as if it was a pair of bracelets.

Aang couldn't help but smirked at this, and he approached the immobilized bender, who tried to tear the stone clasps off his feet.

"So, my good hotman! What's your name?" asked Aang, trying to show his natural joy, though he had some trouble with doing so thanks to the recent events. "Don't worry, I won't eat you! I'm vegan…"

"I won't tell you anything, Avatar!" said the man, breathing heavily because of his nervousness.

"Not even your name? Oh yes, where are my manners… My name is Aang! In case you didn't know… Listen… er… firebender! I don't want you to reveal any secrets your principal trusted to you, or whatever. I have only one question: why did you try to hunt down my lemur with a javelin? I mean you're a bender, right? You could've found at least a dozen more effective and comfortable ways to get him…"

Aang saw the man's suntanned — or originally browner than the Fire Nation average, he couldn't decide — face paling a bit. But eventually the soldier could come up with an answer:

"And ruin the good meat? What do you think would've happened if I'd hit that ugly little creature with a firestream?" he said, flashing a grin at Aang. "Or… did you think I wanted to get that thing only to upset you? Well, I can assure you that me and my pals wanted to eat the lemur. We're pretty low on supplies, you know…"

"Hm, you're quite chatty, after all, no matter you said you won't tell anything to the Avatar" told Toph. "Well, as you'd already mentioned your 'pals', would you be so kind to reveal their location as well? We want to see for ourselves if you are really low on supplies."

"No, Toph. I believe that he's telling the truth, and they don't have food, that's why they wanted to get Momo" said Aang, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "And I'm likely to believe… for the Spirits' sake, tell me your name, already! Please…"

"Call me Lin" grunted the man.

"Well, Lin. Right now, I need your help to prove my hypothesis!" said Aang, and gestured with his hand, making the rock cuffs disintegrate. "Please, stand up, and hit me with all the fire you have. I swear on my life that I won't fight back!"

"Aang! What are you…" hissed Toph, and stood in defensive stance immediately.

"I beg you, Toph, stand back! I don't want you to get hurt. Please!" said Aang, trying to sound as sarcastic as possible. It worked: Toph made a puzzled face, and she obeyed absentmindedly.

"I don't know what you're up to, Aang, but I don't like it a bit…"

"Okay, Lin! Do it!" said Aang determinedly, standing still, his hands resting beside his body, without any attempt to defend himself. It was lucky Toph couldn't see him lowering his guard, because otherwise she would've been out of her mind with anger.

"Aang!" The boy heard that her voice was husky thanks to her worries. "Stop fooling around, you freak me out! If this is about you feeling bad because of what had happened…"

"So Lin… what takes you so long?" Aang interrupted Toph's cries. It was the moment of truth; the bald monk could feel it.

"I… can't" said Lin, lowering his head.

"Wow, you Fire Nation guys are really only evil by accident, huh?" said Toph, after letting out a sigh of relief. "It was the good decision, man! I would have kicked your butt if you'd…"

"No, Toph! You don't understand" said Aang slowly, emphasizing every single word, and staring at the bender in front of him, who was still avoiding to look in his eyes. "He means that he's unable to hurt me. More precisely, he's unable to bend!"

"What?" said Toph, shaking her head violently, probably thinking that she had heard wrong. "He's kidding, right?" she asked Lin.

There was no answer to that question, but both youngsters interpreted the firebender's silence as a negative reply.

"Come here, Lin! I'm sure you're dehydrated. Have a sip of this water!" said Aang, and he nearly laughed, seeing the suspicious look on the firebender's face. "Don't worry, it's not poisoned! I don't think we can afford the luxury of poisoning water right now."

Finally, Lin walked over, and took the waterskin from Aang. He began drinking and his face turned bright at the very moment. Aang bended the skin out of his hand smartly, before he could swallow even the last drop of the liquid.

"Avatar… my comrades and I are hungry" said Lin sheepishly. "Could you spare a piece of bread …?"

"Actually, I could, Lin. But I won't!" frowned Aang. "I'm done with being friendly with people who don't deserve it. You'll have to survive this mess you made for yourselves on your own. Good luck with it, Lin! Honestly; I wish you luck. But don't expect me to be your luck! Now, go!"

Lin was definitely not a stupid man: he knew exactly that the Avatar meant every word he said. Thus he turned around, and walked away with long, rapid footsteppes.

"So… it's true? They cannot bend? But why? How?" inquired Toph, following Aang, who started to walk in the direction where Momo had flown, calling for the lemur in the meanwhile.

"You… don't know the answer because you can't see the world around you, Toph. You can't see these… wicked skies above. These clouds are like the materialization of hopelessness. They must be the cause why it is so cold in the summer… And I think they're in connection with Ozai's campaign. Maybe they are not clouds at all, but all the smoke and ash of the burning world…" said Aang in a low tone.

"So, you are saying" said Toph, blank eyes wide with surprise. "That they _did_ make this for themselves? And… do you think it will be permanent? Or at least it will last long enough to defeat the Fire Nation?"

Aang did not know the answer. But he was aware now, what was bothering him most. Not the loss of a friend, not even defeat… but the emptiness within. He could feel that something was weird, ever since Toph waked him up… as if a little candlelight within his body had been put out. The feeling was similar to what he had experienced during the eclipse. Yet it was a bit like the sensation he had felt when the Moon Spirit had been slain… but then it had been more like as if the balance and harmony of the world had been gone. Now… the very light of life had been reduced…

He was waiting for the sun to shine again ever since he opened his eyes. But it didn't, and it seemed like it won't be shining for some time. And the lack of sunrays threatened the very life on the land below, Aang was sure about that.

"I would be really happy if we could defeat the Fire Nation, Toph" said Aang, hoping badly for a glimmer of light through the clouds, before the darkness Toph was so aware of would fall on every inhabitant of this Earth. Yet still none came. "But not at this cost!"

* * *

><p><strong>There you go! I decided to upload part two earlier, because I messed up the previous upload. Ya' know, I'm living in a time zone six hours ahead of EST, and when I put up part one, it was, like, 3 AM there, so maybe this was the reason why no more then two dozen people had opened the fic XD.<br>I do hope for more views this time (despite the fact that it's New Year's Eve), maybe even some reviews :) Happy New Year, btw :)  
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